Monthly Archives: November 2011

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2006/2007

Moving right along…

I don’t seem to have any pictures of Thanksgiving 2006.  I recall it was in Cleveland—Chris and I were invited to celebrate with some friends, though not terribly close friends.  It’s a bit bittersweet looking back because one of the other guests has since passed away.  The meal was delicious though, and it was a good Thanksgiving.  We spend the rest of the day watching CSI:Miami.  Why do I remember this?  I don’t know!

2007 was one of my favorites.  We went to Phoenix to celebrate with Leslie and Sarah!

turkey photo

This Chris’s famous butter turkey recipe, so good!  I promise we didn’t eat it until it was fully cooked.

Thanksgiving photo

I thought I had more pictures of this but I can’t seem to find them.  Anyway, Leslie and I put together an amazing menu (primarily butter, of course) and had a wonderful time planning, cooking, and baking.  The highlight may have been running to the grocery store the night before, afraid we didn’t have enough pies planned, so ultimately we had (I believe) 6 pies for 10 to 12 people.  I think that was more than enough.

Did you know in Phoenix you can eat Thanksgiving Dinner outside?  We ate in her backyard patio on a picnic table. 

(Those are baked apples, bottom right hand side.  I believe we left them in the oven too long.)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgivings 2004 and 2005

Okay, I perused my snapfish account for more Thanksgiving pictures.  I found nothing from 2004, but then I remembered:  I went to Miami Beach to visit Chris at New World over Thanksgiving 2004.  I was living in Cleveland at the time and he was in Miami Beach playing with the New World Symphony.  We ate out Thanksgiving!  The first and (hopefully) last time we do that.  I do remember it was pretty tasty, and we didn’t spend that much money (I believe it was under $20 because we were cheap and poor then.)  Now I spend that much just on Thanksgiving dessert materials!  My, how times have changed.

I found some pictures labeled Thanksgiving 2005 but I can’t really recall the details.  It seems I went to visit family at Laurelville (a retreat my dad’s side of the family often goes to—it’s in Pennsylvania, easy driving distance from Cleveland and it is rather rustic.)  I vaguely recall this—this must have been Leslie’s first year in Phoenix, because she wasn’t with us.  Chris wasn’t with me either—he might have been in San Diego at the time.  It was my grandmother’s 80th birthday though, and I remember the cake tasted fantastic!  It was filled with raspberry and was delicious.  It’s funny the things that stick in your head…

My brother’s girlfriend, Yuchu, gave my grandmother a giant Nestle bar (she worked for the company at the time.)  I think Grandma was a bit overwhelmed by the size of it.

This is captioned “Chelsea and Carrie at Bell’s Steakhouse.”  Chelsea is a cousin, Carrie is my sister.

My parents!

My cousin Sarah and I.  Sarah is now married and lives in Cambridge, England.  You can see all sorts of family members in the background, including my grandmother again.

So that’s two more years of Thanksgivings!  It’s amazing how few pictures I used to take 🙂  And then I would sometimes wait for months to develop them (or perhaps finish the roll?).  It’s also amazing how I still have basically the same hair do…does that mean my hairstyle is classic or dated?  Or boring?

Don’t answer that.  I’ve gotten enough input on the great makeup debate, I don’t need a hair debate 😉

30 days of Thanksgiving:  I’m thankful for online photo sites because scanning pictures into the computer is a pain.  I’m also thankful I have a scanner.  In case I left out a day recently…I’m thankful for filled cake.  I can’t wait to taste our wedding cake!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2003

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I thought it would be fun (for me) to go through some of my old photos to find previous year’s Thanksgivings!  These are from 2003.  I was living with my sister Leslie in Cleveland at the time and we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends.  After we made that decision, my grandmother invited Leslie and I to have Thanksgiving at her house (approximately 2 1/2 hours away.)  What to do?  Well, we postponed our Friend’s Thanksgiving until Saturday!  I recall both meals were delicious and it was a great year.  I probably gained 15 pounds from having two Thanksgivings.

Chris made the Turkey, of course.  I don’t know why he didn’t come with Leslie and me to my grandmother’s…I think he had two Thanksgivings as well though!

The whole gang.  One of the more unusual things we ate was yorkshire puddings that my friend Sally made.  She is from Australia.

This was in the days before digital cameras, so these are all the pictures I could find online!  I didn’t take nearly as many pictures back then (I suppose most people didn’t) since you had to pay to have them developed and such, plus you’d have to wait so long anyway.  Crazy to think of how much that has changed in the past few years!

Where were you for Thanksgiving 2003?  I will find some more old pictures for other years, don’t worry!

Random thoughts

The great makeup debate!

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Everybody is weighing in on my makeup pictures 🙂  I notice no one has mentioned my hair… (please don’t.)

To put things in perspective, I did this myself (and this photo is edited already, by the wonderful Sarah Crowder).  I’m wearing what I considered to be a ton of eyeliner, and it basically disappears.  Now, Chris isn’t wearing any makeup, and honestly, I think his eyelashes and lips disappear (yes, but would I want to marry him if he wore makeup…hrrmmm…).

It’s amazing how many different opinions people have!  What that means (to me) is that I can’t lose.

Next question:  Should I wear a veil or not?  I have a little hairpiece that came with my dress.  Are you married?  Did you wear a veil?  Do you have pictures to share with me?  (You can email!)  Also pictures of you and your makeup are welcome!

Remember how the other week we ate dinner at our rehearsal dinner venue?  It was delicious.  We learned today that they changed their menu, and neither of the entrees we tried (and loved) are available anymore!  Hopefully the new menu will be as good…we were initially disappointed, but ultimately I’m sure it’ll be wonderful.

Do you like bacon?  Do you like peanut brittle?  Click here for bacon peanut brittle!

30 days of Thanksgiving:  (did I already do this today?  I can’t be bothered to check—I should stop posting twice a day, huh?):  I’m thankful that tomorrow is Friday and I have a facial AND a Twilight mini-marathon planned (with friends!) after work.  We are going to watch the 1st and 3rd movies.

Food

One week until Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is possibly my favorite holiday.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, but there is just something about Thanksgiving (maybe it’s the fact that it’s just one day and you don’t have to worry about buying gifts) that makes it feel amazing and special.

What do you do for Thanskgiving?  For the past several years Chris and I have celebrated with our friends.  Usually he has to work and in the past I’ve had to work too, not on the day but on the days around, so we aren’t able to travel.  I consider this a blessing—I hate traveling at the same time as everybody else!  I enjoy travel and going new places, but not at the same time as the rest of the country.  For instance, when we go on our honeymoon, it should be LESS busy because it will be right after the New Year.

I got an email from Laura who is hostess for this year (second year in a row, she’s amazing!) with the menu.  Oh my goodness.  It is a fantastic looking menu.  Turkey, two kinds of stuffing, potatoes, brussel sprouts salad, other vegetables, mac and cheese, cheesecakes (yes, plural), bread pudding…we are going to be so fat by the end of the day!  I can’t wait!

I want (need) to go for a run today but my legs are super sore from yesterday’s workout.  Too many lunges!  I will try anyway, the twitter consensus is that I should go out slow and it will help.  Speaking of consensuses, there certainly isn’t one as far as my wedding day makeup goes.  Some people love it, some think I should wear no makeup at all, some like parts and not others.  Who knew makeup was so controversial, haha?

Weddings

More makeup or less makeup?

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I think, in case there was any wonder, I have officially turned the corner into vanity-land.  Today I had a makeup "trial" for my wedding.  During that the makeup artist suggested that I consider doing a series of microdermabrasion facials (or something like that) to really clear up my skin.  I thought, you know, why not?  You only get married once!  (fingers crossed).  So between hair, makeup, and skin care, I’m going to the salon almost every week between now and the big day.

Which is six weeks from Monday.

OMG.

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I look a little unlike me in this photo, I think.  I’m thinking about the eyeliner.  I’m told it will make my eyes pop in the photos, but it’s a lot!  I also feel like I look older.  Then again, self portraits are not my forte.

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After that I went to teach.  I left the makeup on to see how it would hold up. 

One of my students asked why I was so tan and wearing so much makeup.  I told her it was because I was getting married.  At which point she squealed "Your boyfriend asked you to marry him??"  The thing is, I didn’t start teaching her until after I was engaged.  She must have heard that somewhere.  Thank you society! 

I’ve been getting more comments that have the sentence "When YOU have children."  I suppose as a woman, that is my only next move.  Engaged, check.  Married, soon.  BABIES.

I suppose it never ends.  People will never be happy.  Because one baby is never enough.  Plus then that baby has to grow up and get married.

Couple of fun quotes.  The first one I saw recently and loved.  I don’t remember it from the books?

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This one I love.

I’ve been thinking about that one recently.  And here’s an article about somebody who just wouldn’t quit.

(When did I start being a motivational type person?  What’s wrong with me?)

30 days of Thanksgiving:  I’m thankful for my loyal blog readers and friends (don’t care if I’ve used that already, you guys are the best, and I love the comments lately).  I’m also thankful for my fuzzy velour pants that I am wearing right now.